Attendees at official presidential event dance to cumbia rhythms

For the first time in an official ceremony involving a president of Mexico, a cumbia musical group enlivened the act, and where else but in Mérida, Yucatán?

Hundreds of people ‘moved’ to cumbia rhythms, while awaiting the arrival of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Those attending the Yucatán Siglo XXI Convention Centre arrived early in order to get a good seat for the ceremony, scheduled for noon Thursday June 16. The President arrived at the Convention Center shortly after 12 noon.

And in a totally unusual situation, a cumbia group enlivened the official ceremony, and the tropical rhythm was still blasting when the Mexican president entered the premises.

In this official visit to Yucatan, President Peña Nieto delivered 9,000 primary and secondary certificates from the National Institute of Adult Education to adults who passed their courses and earned their diploma, with the recognition of the Public Education Secretariat, both state and federal.

Secretary of Education, Aurelio Nuño Mayer; Secretary of Social Development, José Antonio Meade Kuribeña, and Secretary of Tourism, Enrique de la Madrid, also attended the event.

Adults enrolled in this Special Certification Program (Programa Especial de Certificación: PEC), whose purpose is to establish the basic education based on work experience and self-taught knowledge.

According to the Presidency of the Republic, the program started last April 4 and seeks to “bring justice for millions of adults who were forced to leave school, but that have accumulated knowledge equivalent to basic education and require their certification. ”

The program is also aimed to “reduce the vulnerability of people for lack of education, so adults can have more opportunities and access to better jobs in the formal labor market.”

Since it was officially launched, the PEC has certified 244,692 adults nationwide, 116,814 for primary and 127,878 for secondary education. Besides, the Mexican government has a literacy program, whose goal is to serve 7.5 million people over 15 years.